It is well recognized that athletes, professional and amateur, frequently travel with their own athletic equipment for purposes of professional appearances and/or recreation. In some cases, where the athletic equipment is small and easily transportable, as for example tennis rackets or ice skates, few significant problems in packaging and transporting the equipment are presented. However, when the athletic equipment is bulky and unwieldy, difficulties arise in safely and securely transporting such items. This is especially true of golf clubs, for example, because the elongated clubs are heavy and are usually transported loosely within a golf bag. The clubs, as well as the golf bag, are generally quite expensive, and thus it is desirable to provide for protection of such equipment during shipment thereof, by a common carrier, such as an airline or bus line. In addition, the golf clubs, known as "woods," have highly polished hardwood heads, which can be easily damaged or scuffed during transportation. Further, the golf clubs are usually transported within the golf bag with the club shafts disposed within the bag and the highly polished heads either maintained in an exposed condition or covered by a light covering. In either position, the heads are not adequately protected against unwanted inadvertent damages resulting from rough handling by common carrier personnel during shipment thereof.
Further, in light of the bulkiness and size of the golf clubs/golf bag combination, it is not readily adapted to be brought aboard public conveyances, such as airplanes, where the owner would be able to exercise caution during transportation. Instead, the bag of clubs is generally placed in the aircraft's luggage compartment, together with other items of luggage, thereby exposing the bag and clubs to a risk of damage. This risk is sometimes graphically evident at the end of an airplane trip, when pieces of luggage, of diverse sizes and mass, are unloaded into a chute and allowed to tumble onto a carousel in an uncontrolled manner.
Even though some golf bags have hoods to cover the clubs, thereby affording a small degree of protection, transporting the golf bag in an exposed manner frequently entails serious risk of damage to the clubs, as well as to the bag itself. Another consideration is an increased possibility of theft, when the exposed golf bag is transported, because the golf bag is easily recognizable and readily carried away by a thief.
In light of the foregoing problems, certain devices have been utilized for the transportation of athletic equipment, such as golf clubs. One such device is a bag, usually of canvas or similar material, which is closed about the golf bag and clubs. While such a device provides limited protection by avoiding easy identification of its contents by a potential thief, such bags due to their soft-sided construction, do not afford adequate protection from the type of damage caused by contact with sharp objects or impacts from heavy objects or rough handling. Of course, impact damage and penetration by sharp objects are not uncommon problems when equipment is shipped on commercial carriers. In addition, such bags are not readily adapted for long, relatively heavy golf clubs to be carried manually in a convenient manner through crowded airports and terminals. Further, such soft sided bags are generally shapeless and unattractive in appearance, and thus are not generally compatible with the expensive and aesthetically pleasing appearance of modern golfing equipment and skis. In view of the limitations of soft sided carriers, it would be desirable to have a carrier for transporting equipment, such as a golf bag containing clubs, which would provide safety and security for the contents thereof. Also, such a carrier should provide significant impact and penetration resistance and convenience during transportation thereof.
In some cases, to avoid the limitations of soft sided bags, cartons, typically being constructed of paperboard, have been utilized to transport combinations of golf bags and clubs. While the paperboard carton avoids some of the disadvantages of the soft sided bag, it still falls short of providing a secure and convenient transportable device. For one thing, paperboard cartons afford less than adequate protection against damage from severe impacts or sharp penetrating blows, since the paperboard material can be cut open or crushed as a result of rough handling thereof Further, because they are not conveniently stored and are frequently damaged during a single trip, they are generally not reusable. Also, paperboard cartons are not adapted to be transported manually in a convenient manner through an airport terminal, due to their bulky and unwieldy nature. Finally, cartons of this type provide little or no protection of their contents from wet weather conditions, such as rain. Moreover, the cartons have an unattractive appearance, and certainly are not intended to be of the same quality and character as modern expensive luggage.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a carrier which provides both security and protection for its contents, and which would be convenient to transport manually by its owner through crowded airport terminals. Such a carrier should be able to be stored in a convenient manner when not in use.